Eurofurence (commonly also EF), is a European furry convention, the largest outside the United States and the longest-running furry convention in the world. It was founded in 1995, and Eurofurence 20 in Berlin, Germany had 2015 attendees.[citation needed]

It is typically held in summer and located in various places of Germany, but it has seen other countries as well, notably Sweden, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. Eurofurence 12 was held at the same venue as the Eurofurence 11, and Eurofurence 15 marked a return to the Ringberg Hotel in Suhl, Thuringia for the third and final year in succession. Since Eurofurence 16 in 2010, the convention has been held at the Maritim Hotel in Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. In 2014, Eurofurence returned to Berlin, taking place at the Estrel Hotel, the largest hotel in Germany.

Eurofurence and the Mephit Mini Con share some lighting equipment and art panels for the sake of economy, but are not officially related.

Since Eurofurence 12, Eurofurence has run five days from Wednesday to Sunday. Early arrival and late departure options are offered for those who want to stay another night or two. There are several main events that are held every year, often on the same day and time each year.

The convention traditionally begins with a barbecue held outside on the convention premises. During this barbecue the convention is then officially opened in an opening ceremony hosted by Cheetah, where the attendees are introduced to the staff. In the opening ceremony, the main events of the convention are announced, along with other important points such as rules of conduct and other safety notices.

On one evening, Uncle Kage and 2, The Ranting Gryphon get together to present Uncle Kage vs. 2. It is a combination of Uncle Kage's Story Hour and a comedy performance by 2, either performed in sequence or with each taking turns. At Eurofurence 17, 2 could not attend, so the event was changed to only a story hour for that year. Kage "compensated" for that by doing impressions of 2 on stage.

The pawpet show is usually the closing event of Eurofurence, in the absence of a real closing ceremony. It is a furry handpuppet performance, written, produced and performed by a mixed crew of Eurofurence staff and attendees. It is written as a feature-length stage show, mixing comedy and drama, with music, added sound effects, special effects and more recently also prerecorded video footage inserted between the scenes. The Big Blue Dance follows the pawpet show and is the last event of the convention. It is a dance event held in the main dance hall by BigBlueFox and other DJs, and often continues throughout the night. Light effects, live mixed background animations and other atmospheric effects are also present.

On the final (departure) day of the convention, a Dead Dog Party is held for those who want to relax and wind down while preventing post-con depression. In earlier years, a group photo of all those attending the convention was taken on Sunday morning. However, it was moved to Saturday morning as many congoers were not able to get out of bed so early after the Big Blue Dance the previous night. It also posed problems for people wanting to depart early in the morning, who had to miss the photo.

For the duration of the con, the dealer's den is available for attendees to sell merchandise of varying sorts. Since Eurofurence 17, two dealer's dens have been available, as the single one could no longer handle the demand.

There is also an art show, where attendees can look around for art and make bids for pieces they would like. About half-way through the convention, the art show is closed and the art auction is held to sell the pieces to the highest bidders. The auction is conducted by Uncle Kage.

There are several events and other facilities for fursuiters. There is always a headless lounge available, which is an area that only fursuiters can enter where they can freely un-suit and relax. The lounge is normally full of fans and other cooling equipment to help the fursuiters cool off. During most of the convention there is also a fursuit photoshoot, where fursuiters can have pictures of their fursuits taken by a professional photographer.

On the main stage, the fursuit gameshow is held, in which teams in fursuits compete in several challenges. The challenges are often made with the difficulties of wearing a fursuit in mind, but sometimes they take advantage of this to provide a challenge unique to fursuiters, such as balancing objects on one's muzzle.

Finally, a fursuit group photo is traditionally taken on Saturday, followed by the fursuit parade which fursuiters and non-fursuiters alike are invited to participate in. Since fursuit attendance has been steadily rising over the years (reaching 400 in 2011), the parade is now held entirely outside, and in Eurofurence 17 the parade took place in the city streets of Magdeburg.

EF Prime is a tv channel which broadcasts an information and entertainment during Eurofurence on the internal hotel TV system. It launched in 2007 during EF 13, and airs information about EF-related events and hotel facilities. In between, it shows furry and furry-related shorts, clips and shows as well as clips that aren't furry related, yet popular among the fandom.

At EF 17, EF Prime got its own mascot, a computer generated wolf named Spikey Wolf. He was introduced in a video parody of Eminem's "My name is"[1] and is voiced by Shay. Spikey highlighted the days timetable on EF Prime on daily base and also provided in numerous quotes during live events.

The Daily Eurofurence is a newspaper published during Eurofurence, reporting all kinds of events from the prior day. The 'newspaper' consists of various articles, some cartoons, an occasional cross-word puzzle and the updated timetable for the convention.

Eurofurence 8 was the first Eurofurence convention to have a specific theme. The theme is represented in the art and signs displayed in public and in some events such as the pawpet show. There are also often events specific to the theme, such as at Eurofurence 17 which had a Tai Chi panel and a martial arts performance to go with its Chinese theme.

Since 2007, Eurofurence has had a dedicated charity for each convention, often animal sanctuaries or other animal welfare organisations. Donations are collected during the convention, and there are often one or more paid events, the profits of which go to the charity.

Later in 1998, Eurofurence e.V. was registered as a social organization in Germany to operate the convention annually from Eurofurence 5 in 1999 to the present day. However, it is not limited to any specific location, and has many international members among its staff and members. Since 2009, Eurofurence e.V. has their own flags, banners and posters with the logo.

Whilst these are the "key" members of staff, there are many more volunteers helping to make the convention a success by doing such tasks as leading events, setting up the stage and art show, teardown and pretty much anything else that needs doing.

"Anthrocon may be the biggest fur convention in the world, but Eurofurence is the best." — Uncle Kage, EFX (2004)

"EF kicks ass! In Fact there is not enough ass in the entire US for this con to kick!" — Uncle Kage, EF 12 (2006)

"I am chairman of the largest furry convention in the world, but I personally believe that the best furry convention is right here." — Uncle Kage, EF 13 (2007)

"I command three of the largest hotels, in one of the largest cities in the USA. I would trade all of them away for one Ringberg." (a.k.a. "Goodbye, Ringberg Hotel") — Uncle Kage, EF 15 (2009)

"This is our second year in the Maritim hotel. And with 1066 registration we are officially booked out." — Nightfox, EF 17 (2011)

"...additional notice. We would like to ask you: to NOT fursuit in the pool. The filters clogged up with fur and water overflowed in to other areas. And although the hotel manager though it was very cool. We still have to ask you to not do this." — Nightfox, EF 17 (2011)

"The past week has been a wild ride for the reg team - during first 6 days, we have received nothing short of 1150 registration requests - which once again marks a new record in EF history." — Cheetah, pre-EF18 (2012)